NEWS FLASH: THE CHEE FAMILY HAS STEPPED FORWARD TO CLAIM MRS CHEE KIM GUAN  FOLLOWING TODAY’S NEWS PAPER REPORT IN ZAOBAO , 1 OCTOBER 2013

What began as a news flash on the Facebook Group Heritage Singapore Bukit Brown Cemetery by Raymond Goh  has materialised into a newspaper article calling on descendants of Mrs Chee Kim Guan, mother of Chee Yam Chuan,  to lay claim to the tomb, stake number 1818.

Mother of Chee Yam Chuan , Mrs Chee Kim San nee Khoo (photo Raymond Goh)

(This is a relocated tomb, located at Hill 2, Block 3 and is one among a cluster of 1830s tombs)

On August 25th, 2013 Raymond posted:

” Newsflash – I believe I have found the mother of Chee Yam Chuan among an old cluster of tombs staked to be removed due to an impending road project. One of Chee Yam Chuan’s grandson is Chee Swee Cheng.  Today I dug the soil at the bottommost of the tombstone to reveal the only grandson on the tombstone. It was Keat Bong. Next I check out David Chng record of Chee Yam Chuan tomb inscription found in Malacca. His eldest son was also Keat Bong. Based on the son and grandson inscribed in this tombstone, I can almost confirmed that this is the tombstone of the mother of Chee Yam Chuan, Mrs Chee Kim Guan nee Khoo. This tomb is dated to 1836, and the Chees’ are one of the pioneering family to come to Singapore during its modern founding in 1819″

For more on Raymond’s research on the Chee Family, please click here

Today, 1 October 2013, Zaobao published an article on the identity of who is buried in the staked tomb, which is in the way of the 8 lane highway and still unclaimed. The following is a summary of the article by  PatSg one of the members of the facebook group

* 百年古墓即将起坟 峇峇富商生母之墓无人认领？

武吉布朗3746个受新道路工程影响的坟墓，10月起将逐一起坟。在2525个至今还没有后人认领的坟墓中，有一个年代可追溯到“道光十六年岁次丙申”（1837年）的清代迁葬墓，相信是马六甲和新加坡峇峇富商徐炎泉生母之墓。

* Century-old Tomb of Mother to Wealthy Baba Merchant: On verge of exhumation and yet unclaimed  (Lianhe Zaobao – 01 Oct 2013)

Bukit Brown’s 3,746 tombs affected by the new highway project will be exhumed starting from this October. Amongst the 2,525 unclaimed tombs is one that was re-interred in 1837 during the Qing emperor Daoguang’s 16th year of reign (also the year of the Fire Monkey). This tomb is believed to belong to the birth mother of the wealthy Malacca and Singapore Baba merchant Xú Yán Quán [徐炎泉: Chee Yam/Yean Chuan].

原籍漳州府龙溪县的徐炎泉（1819-1862）和父亲徐钦元都是海峡殖民地成功商人，曾经富甲一方，生意遍布马六甲和新加坡。徐炎泉21岁时就已经当上马六甲福建帮领袖，不过他在1862年遭枪杀，时年43岁。

Hailing from Longxi county of Zhangzhou prefecture, both Xú Yán Quán [Chee Yam/Yean Chuan] (1819-1862) and father Xú Qīn Yuán [徐钦元: Chee Kim Guan] were successful and extremely wealthy merchants of the British Straits Settlements with businesses all over Malacca and Singapore. Xú Yán Quán was already the leader of the Malaccan Hokkien community at age 21, but was gunned down in 1862 at age 43.

原来徐炎泉的这位生母，百多年来一直静静的躺在武吉布朗坟场，而且很快便要被挖走！除了徐炎泉生母，他儿子徐桂梦和媳妇周吉娘的墓也在武吉布朗。

吴安全相信徐炎泉依然有后人在新加坡和马六甲，希望他们看到报道后，能尽快与他联络，认领被遗忘多时的坟墓。

It turns out that Xú Yán Quán’s [Chee Yam/Yean Chuan’s] birth mother has been resting peacefully at Bukit Brown Cemetery for the past 100-plus years, and would very soon be exhumed ! In addition to his birth mother, the tombs of his son Xú Guì Mèng [徐桂梦: Chee Quee Bong] and daughter-in-law Zhōu Jí Niáng [周吉娘: Chew Kiat Neo] are also located at Bukit Brown.

Raymond Goh believes Xú Yán Quán [Chee Yam/Yean Chuan] have descendents still living in Singapore and Malacca, and hopes that after reading this report, they would contact him as soon as possible to claim the long-forgotten tomb.

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Additional Genealogical Summary by PatSg
** Chee Yam/Yean Chuan (徐钦元 Xú Qīn Yuán: 24 May 1818/19/20 – 28 Jul 1862)

* Father: Chee Kim Guan (died 13 Jan 1839)
* Mother: Siok Hui (淑惠 Shū Huì: posthumous name, re-interred tomb dated to 1836)

* Wife: Tan Liat/Lian Kian
* 2 Daughters

* 10 Sons: Chee Gin Siew (alias Cheah Jin Siew), Chee Him Bong, Chee Pee Bong, Chee Teck Bong, Chee Hoon Bong, Chee Lim Bong, Chee Hee Bong, Chee Quee Bong, Chee Beck/Peck Bong, Chee Siang Bong

Editors Note: The tomb of Mrs Chee Kim Guan  is part of a cluster of over 50 tombs which have been reburied in Bukit Brown. The tombstones  date back to 1830s, which indicate that these would be pioneers who predate the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Information on this cluster of tombs was not recorded in the Bukit Brown Burial Registry.  As such the only way to identify who are buried in this cluster is first, to decipher the names and inscriptions on each individual tomb and conduct further research.  This was how Raymond identified the tomb of Mrs Chee Kim Guan

1830s cluster at Block 3, Hill 2 (photo Victor Yue)